Ghosts of Our Past
by AlexJohnD
Summary: Things were going fairly normally for Percy and Nico, but will seeing a ghost from their past change everything between them? Percico One-Shot. Rated T but probably could be rated lower.


**So I decided to randomly write a little Percico! It was a nice break from my main HTTYD story, which I will now get back to XD. Enjoy!**

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The sky was overcast over Vancouver as Percy and Nico walked down Granville Street. After Gaea and all of her minions had finally been defeated all those months ago and the gods had recovered from their multiple personality disorder, things had finally calmed down for all the demigods. They no longer had to constantly watch their backs when they weren't at one of the camps as monster attacks had become nearly non-existent.

Percy and Nico had grown closer after the entire ordeal and had been meeting up to hang out alone more and more frequently. They generally chose Vancouver because they each enjoyed the city, even if not for the same reasons. Percy liked it because no matter where he was in the city it always seemed like he was close to the water, and Nico liked it because the overcast weather was the norm, not the exception. Plus, as much as they loved their other friends at camp, they enjoyed hanging out alone occasionally. So every now and again when they wanted to hang out, Nico would show up at Camp Half-Blood and shadow travel them to BC.

"So, anything new?" Nico asked after a momentary silence.

"Well," Percy started, "Annabeth and I kind of broke up a few days back."

"Oh no, what happened?" Nico legitimately felt bad for Percy, but he still had to work to hide a mild sense of happiness that they were no longer together. It was nothing against Annabeth, he thought she was a great person, it was just that Nico still had feelings for Percy and seeing them together sort of irked him a little every time.

"I don't know how to explain it," Percy said, looking down at his shoes. "We had sort of been drifting apart for a while now, and I felt like there was something missing or wrong with our relationship. I'm not sure if that's the right word to use; I don't know how to describe it."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm sure you'll find someone else who cares for you just as much and will make you even happier," Nico said. In his head, he finished with a, _'They might be standing right next to you.'_ He couldn't say that out loud, though. He didn't know how Percy would react, and he himself was still having some issues on deciding how to reveal his feelings. The self-loathing due to his feelings had finally subsided, but Jason and he were still the only two who actually knew about his feelings towards the son of the sea god.

Percy managed to put on a smile and said, "Thanks man, that means a lot," as he wrapped his arm over Nico's shoulders.

Nico immediately looked the other way, knowing he wouldn't be able to control his mild blush, and said, "Yeah, well no prob…" before he stopped dead in his tracks and all colour drained from his face.

Percy immediately became concerned and removed his arm, fearing maybe he had done something that had upset Nico.

"Nico? What's wrong?" Percy asked, turning to look at the younger boy. All he got in reply was a quick shush, so Percy stayed quiet and tried to hear what it was Nico was listening for. Instinctively his hand went to his pocket and rested over Riptide, thinking maybe Nico had spotted a monster of some sort and was listening for it. He wasn't sure how he had seen anything over the crowd however.

Suddenly, and without warning, Nico burst into a dash. Percy was momentarily stunned, but then took off as well, following in Nico's footsteps.

"Nico! Wait up!" Percy called, but it was no use. Nico was clearly on a mission to get to whatever it was he was going for. Percy had to really run at full speed to catch up. He wondered when Nico had gained so much speed in his running and how he was able to weave in and out of all the people so masterfully.

Nearly a quarter of a block later, Percy finally caught up to Nico and grabbed his shoulders, stopping him. Nico tried to get out of the grip, but Percy was stronger.

"Nico, would you tell me what is going…" Percy started, stopping abruptly when he heard what Nico must have heard. It seemed as if everyone in the crowd had all become perfectly silent at once, and that the sound was the only sound in the world at that moment. To most it was just the sound of a girl's laughter, but to Nico and Percy it was much more. It was a sound that was so familiar, a laugh so unique, and it brought back haunting memories of a fateful day back at Camp Half-Blood for both boys. It was unmistakably Bianca's laugh.

This time both boys took off in a run, heading straight for where the laugh had come from. They only needed to go about ten steps up West Georgia before they both came to a sudden halt. There, walking the other way, was the girl laughing. It was, without a doubt, Bianca. She even looked exactly the same, with the same hair colour, style, and even the same fashion sense. It took both boys a moment to fully register all this in their brains, but when they finally snapped out of it, she had just walked past them.

Nico turned to go after her, but Percy grabbed his arm. When Nico turned around, an angry scowl mixed with a begging expression on his face, Percy explained.

"Nico, think about this. She would have been bathed in the River Lethe. You know, the one we knocked Bob into? She won't remember us." It hurt Percy to say that, but it had to be said. Nico, however, was not willing to give up so easily.

"Percy, I have to try. She's my sister. My only sibling and the only family I had left until she was gone too. I know it's a long shot, but you have to understand that I need to go for it. Imagine if you lost your mom for months on end, and suddenly you saw her again. Would you not go for it?" While Nico was saying this, tears had started to form in the side of his eyes and his voice became more pleading as he went on. Percy realized he was right; he would probably try and talk to his mom too. So, he let him go. Nico jogged to catch up to her, and Percy followed a few feet back.

"Bianca!" Nico called ahead, trying to get her to stop. She didn't even slow down, so he caught up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Bianca?"

"Yes?" she asked, turning around to face him. "Can I help you?"

"Bianca, it's me, Nico. Don't you remember me?" Nico asked, slightly hopeful.

She paused for a moment, looking Nico over and donning a contemplative expression.

"I think you're mixing me up with someone else. I don't believe we've ever met before," Bianca replied.

Nico was crushed, but he hid it well. He desperately wanted to tell her that he was her brother, but he knew that that wouldn't go over well. He didn't get to do anything else, however, as Bianca's friend realized she had stopped and came to get her.

"Bianca, come on!" The other girl with dark brown hair said, grabbing her friend's arm and tugging.

"I'm coming," she said with a smile to her friend before turning back to Nico. "Bye Nico," was all she said before she walked off, leaving Nico's life once more.

Percy walked up to Nico after Bianca left and wrapped him in a hug. Nico put his head on Percy's shoulder, and when Percy felt his shoulder start to get wet, he pulled them into a side alley between two buildings for some privacy.

Nico knew that that was exactly what he should have expected, but it didn't lessen the blow at all. The one person he'd had left in his life during his difficult past, and she didn't recognize him. He just sat there, crying into Percy's shoulder while Percy rubbed circles on his back, until both of them had lost track of time.

When Nico finally stopped crying, Percy loosened the hug a little but he still kept his arms around him. Nico looked up and tried to give a small smile.

"Thanks Percy, I really appreciate you being here right now."

"Hey," Percy said softly, brushing Nico's bangs out of his eyes, "don't even think about it."

"Thanks. It's just, now I've officially lost the person I was closest to. I mean before I held out hope, but now it's gone," Nico sighed.

"Hey, things can only get better going forward, right? Come on, let's get away from here," Percy said, finally breaking the hug but grabbing Nico's hand to pull him along. Percy specifically made sure that they headed the opposite direction as Bianca.

They walked away, but it took several minutes before their hands separated.

* * *

They ended up walking to Granville Island, where they strolled along the waterfront. Eventually it started to get late, and as the sun started to disappear behind the horizon they finally stopped to sit down.

"Thanks again for being there for me earlier Percy," Nico said as he stared down at his shoes. "I really do appreciate it."

Percy looked over at Nico and looked at him until Nico looked up.

"Hey, that's what friends do, right?" Percy said that and smiled that smile that Nico just loved. It also didn't hurt that the sunset made Percy's sea green eyes sparkle.

Nico had been thinking long and hard about this for the past little while, and he decided that maybe it was time that he told Percy about his feelings. He had come close about a month ago, but he had chickened out at the time. He may not have had the intention of trying to tell Percy again quite yet, but after all that had already happened today, what did he have to lose? If Percy, by some long shot, reciprocated the feelings, maybe today wouldn't end up being such a bad day. If he didn't, well, at least he would be able to say to Jason he had finally done it. And besides, maybe talking about it in some form would lift some of the weight off of his shoulders.

"Hey, Percy, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"I know."

"You see, the thing is, wait what?" Nico asked, confused and slightly concerned by Percy's last statement.

"Nothing," Percy said, suddenly trying to act innocent, "Continue."

"Percy, tell me what you know," Nico said, expression becoming even more serious.

"Well," Percy started, drawing the word out, "I'm just guessing that this has to do with what you wanted to tell me, but let's just say that Favonius and the gods may have a bit of a gossip problem."

Percy gave a small smile at that, but Nico just hung his head in disgust. He couldn't believe that the Olympians would just spread it around like that so carelessly. And it must have been carelessly if it had gotten all the way to Percy. Nico figured he may as well say something.

"Are-are you mad?" Nico asked, slightly ashamed. He wasn't ashamed of his feelings anymore, but instead he was ashamed of the fact that word of his feelings had gotten to Percy before he had. Plus, if he had been the one to tell Percy his feelings he could have controlled the conversation a little better. Now he had no idea what would happen.

"Why would I be mad?" Percy asked. "You can't help the way you feel about someone when it comes to something like that."

"Yeah, I guess," was all Nico said. At least Percy was still willing to be his friend. He had stuck around even after he had learned about his feelings, so why would he stop now? But maybe bringing it up hadn't been the best idea because now Nico feared an awkward silence between them. Fortunately Percy squashed that fear pretty quickly.

"Nico, there is something I've actually wanted to tell you for a while now too."

"What's that?" Nico asked.

"Well, what I want to say I don't think is best expressed in words."

This only served to confuse Nico. How could you say something without using words?

"I don't follow."

What Percy did next shocked Nico at first. But, after a split second, it washed away any fear Nico had had about how Percy would feel about his feelings towards him and cleared the confusion from Percy's last statement.

Percy kissed him.

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**OK, before people attack me with questions about this: yes, I am aware that the time frame since Bianca's rebirth would make her much younger than she appears to be in this one shot. My explanation/kinda headcanon on that is that the gods put her back in a body at the same age as she died because she was still so young. They used the mist to give her memories (not unlike Piper and Jason's memories of their relationship in The Lost Hero) and gave her to a family that knew about the gods and their powers (like Frank's grandmother (and no that's not why I set this story in Vancouver)). Plus it worked for this story. So yeah, there's my explanation.**

**Gee, that review box right there looks a little empty, don't you think?**


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